Perfect Snowflakes
by deep-throat spoons
Summary: While waiting for her brother, Natalia meets a young man who was kicked out of his house, and on impulse decides to let him stay with her. BelAme, AU, dead as a door nail.
1. Bringing, belonging

"Er, Hi..."

"Hello, what do you need?"

"Well, you look so sad here, alone..."

"Your point?"

"I just thought you might want someone to talk to, is all."

"Of course not, I have my brother."

"Well, where is he?"

"He's... busy."

"Uh huh..."

"Just... go away."

"No, it's rude to leave a young lady alone like this."

"What are you, some kind of prince?"

"Yep, and I'm here to save you, princess."

"From what?"

"Anything you want."

"Then save me from you, because your voice is boring into my head. I think its giving me an aneurism."

"Ooh, harsh. Shouldn't you treat your hero with a little more respect?"

"You aren't my hero."

"Then what am I?"

"Nothing."

Alfred frowned. "I think I'm something, I mean, if I wasn't, I wouldn't really exist, would I?"

Natalia remained as stoic as ever. "I'd be better of if you didn't."

"Aw, come on! We just met!" Alfred stepped around to the other side of the blond girl as she walked on, not even sparing him a glance. Their footsteps crunched in the snow as trees passed them by, the park was empty except for them, it seemed. "You could at least give me a chance, who knows, maybe you'll come to like me!" He laughed.

Natalia scowled. "I don't think It'd be possible to like someone as annoying as you."

"You sound like-..." He cut himself off, suddenly biting his lip. The pale girl looked at him now, she quietly wondered why he'd stopped, this stranger was... well, strange.

"What's your name?" She asked.

Blue eyes looked up and quickly regained their happy glow. "Alfred, yours?"

"Natalia." She said, she didn't want to admit it, but seeing him happy again made her feel a little better, somehow.

The blond man laughed, "That's a cool name!"

"...Thanks, I guess." She mumbled, looking away again before trotting onwards.

"No problem," He replied happily, regaining his place next to her as she made her way down the snowy path. "So, why are you out here, anyways?"

"None of your business."

"C'mon, please?" He leaned over and whispered slyly into her ear, "I won't tell..."

The thin girl went rigid, and before Alfred knew it, there was a knife clamped tight in her hand, and brandished far too close to his neck to be comfortable.

"I said it was none of your business, _Alfred,_" She spat. "So if you want to keep your vital organs on the inside of your body, I suggest you stop asking..."

Silence lingered for a moment, like a plague, until the blond man's laughter cured it. Natalia gawked at him as she slowly retracted the knife from his throat, her eyes wide. She was so confused; normally she'd scare anyone with her mere presence (Hell, even her own brother!), but this man, Alfred, was totally unaffected by any of that, in fact, it almost seemed that he _liked _her.

"You really are something!" He chuckled, placing his hands on his hips. Natalia quickly regained her composure and began back down the walkway, Alfred once again joining her.

A few minutes passed in silence, strange silence, she found it almost unbearable. Even though she was actually used to it; and despite being rather tired of the blue-eyed man's babbling, she opted to start the conversation again rather than wallow in this thick, oily quiet.

"Why are _you_ here?" She asked him, he frowned and looked at her, she refused to meet his eyes and continued to look dead ahead.

He smiled almost sadly. "My, uh, room mate kicked me out, and I was trying to find a suitable place to crash."

"How long have you been out here?" She asked, looked at him finally, and quirking an eyebrow.

"Oh, not too long, a couple days, I think. Kinda lost track..." He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Where have you been staying, then?" She prodded.

"Here and there," He replied, "Mostly here." Natalia's frown deepened, "But since it started snowing, and I didn't exactly want to die of hypothermia, I decided to try and find somewhere warmer, maybe try and go home, see if my room mate has cooled off... though I doubt it."

"You mean... you've been living in the _park_?" The blond girl breathed incredulously, eyes wide as she looked at him, stopping mid step.

"Yeah, kinda..." He laughed, smiling the same as before, though there was a certain sadness in his eyes, like an ocean of held back tears. She felt sorry for him.

Natalia looked down, focusing on her shoes for a moment, she could feel melted snow sopping into her socks through the thin sneakers she wore. She bit her lip as she contemplated doing something that would most definitely upset her brother to no end, and was surely not something she'd do under normal circumstances...

They began walking again; she understood why he had approached her, it must have been lonely out here, and he seemed like the kind of person who needed people more than most.

"You know," he piped up after a while, "Someone used to tell me that no two snowflakes were the same, but some are so close you almost can't tell." She looked at him, puzzled, as he started up at the formless clouds above them dreamily. "I think those snowflakes are the luckiest, because they'll never be without someone," He looked at her and smiled, "They always know someone else will remember them, so when they melt, they wont feel so alone."

He looked back ahead, she just stared, silent except for the slight brush of the trees in the light wind.

Alfred chuckled, "I know, I'm rambling. Sounds stupid, huh?" he looked at her and laughed.

Natalia gave the faintest smile and looked ahead, "No, not stupid..."

He shrugged, and before the silence could take over again, she spoke.

"Er, Alfred?"

"Mhmm?"

"Well... Since you're stuck without a place to go, and I'd prefer it if you remained at least semi-alive so I won't have to read about a dead guy found in the park and _know_ who it is (because that's just awkward and guilt ridden), I was wondering if, perhaps, you'd like to stay with me until your room mate lets you go home..." She spoke quietly at a little more than a whisper, but he heard everything, and smiled from ear to ear before taking the platinum blond into a tight embrace so fast she didn't have the time (or the room) to pull a knife.

"Th-thank you so much!" He sobbed, this was the last thing she expected of the young man, "I-I can't believe- I thought you were just putting up with me- I just-" he dissolved into full tears rapidly. Natalia hesitantly returned the embrace, partially to calm him, and partially to realize what she'd done. She buried her face in Alfred's chest, he was surprisingly warm, she shut her eyes and let him finish, occasionally he'd mutter a stifled "Thank you," but other then that was practically silent, not counting his bucking breath.

"Y-...you're welcome..." She mumbled when he finally let go, a pink tinge across both of their cheeks, she looked up as he wiped the remaining tears away, smiling still.

"I-I'm sorry, It's just... You know... Anyways, you're really going to let me stay with you? I-I mean, you just met met me!" He laughed, Natalia sighed.

"I'm the one who asked you, so yes, I am. Obviously." She deadpanned, regaining what composure she could.

"Yeah... so, um, where...?" He asked.

"My car is this way," She said, marching off in the direction they'd been heading before. "Now, I suppose you don't have anything else to wear, right?"

Alfred returned to his place next to her, happier then ever, "Nope!" he said.

A ghost of a smile graced her lips; his enthusiasm was astounding. "Well, I suppose you could barrow some of my brother's clothes... or, do you have any money?"

"I think I have six bucks, and some change."

"Ah... well... I'm sure Ivan won't mind if you barrow something," She lied, knowing that her brother would be far from happy about that. But seeing as the clothes she was thinking of were the ones he'd left at her apartment one of the times he'd gotten drunk, she was almost glad he kept forgetting to pick them up.

"Okay! Your brother sounds cool." Alfred laughed, if only he knew...

"I... guess you could say that." Natalia said.

"Do ya live with him? Or are you just really close?" He asked abruptly, she quirked an eyebrow, wondering for a moment why he'd asked her.

"No, I just see him often... though he is usually working, he's head of a large corporation..." She muttered, Alfred gawked for a moment, she didn't exactly know why.

"You told me something about you life!" He cried gleefully, she looked at him oddly, "You actually told me! I thought you'd pull a knife again!" He laughed.

"I... I suppose I did, and sorry about that..." She said softly.

After a few more moments of odd conversation ("Where do you live anyways? It isn't too far, right?"), the pair finally reached the edge of the park, and the lot beside it. Alfred continued to hurl questions at her, she just walked on until they got to a small silver car near the edge of the lot (it was really the only car there, since no one else had come to the park during the minor snowstorm, and honestly, why would they?). Natalia pulled a key chain from her coat pocket and pressed one of the buttons on the mini-remote hanging from it, the lights on the silver car flashed and a minor tick could be heard from the vehicle. She reached for the handle, but Alfred beat her to it, and proceeded to open the door for her, she looked at him sideways as she took her place in the driver's seat, he shut her door, smiling happily as he walked around to the other side and took his seat next to her. She started the car and began down the near empty snow-paved street. Silence rained within the thin walls of the car as it slowly got warmer, the heater helping that. Alfred occasionally glanced at the girl next to him, finally speaking up as they reached a stop light.

"Thanks again," He said, "I-I was going to try and find a homeless shelter, but since I wasn't really homeless, I thought it'd be unfair to take a bed away from someone who actually needs one," He spoke solemnly, she glanced at him briefly as the light changed. "You know? I just couldn't do something like that..." he laughed.

"Yeah..." She said hushed, she still couldn't believe what she was doing, or why she'd gotten the desire to help this man she hardly knew. But honestly, she felt it was right, there was something about him, he seemed... genuine. She didn't see that often anymore, at least, not with the company she kept.

They drove in silence again for a short while until he spoke again, pointing a large brick apartment building that stood on a corner overlooking them as they passed. "That's where I live- or rather, where my room mate and I live."

"Who is your room mate?" She asked, once again glancing at him for a moment.

"Oh... his name is Arthur... Arthur Kirkland, he actually used to be my older brother... er, adopted. But I refused to live with him any more a few years ago, and now... I live with him again, because I lost my house, and job and he was the only one I had, but when I couldn't pay rent he kicked me out... and here I am!" He said sadly. Natalia bit her lip.

"Ah."

"Yeah... what about you? Who exactly _is_ your brother?"

Natalia sighed, "Ivan Braginsky. He's... my brother. I care for him dearly."

He nodded, "I see, well, Arty and I's... relationship has been strained since I left. It really hurt him, I wish it hadn't, because despite all he's put me through, I still care about him- I mean, he raised me and everything. Without him, who knows what would've happened to me."

She gave a curt nod, not wanting to comment. "My apartment is just around the corner here."

"Cool." Alfred smiled at her, she gave a slight smile back.

They parked at a large complex, all the buildings were two story and painted in pale greens, blues, and browns. Natalia began towards the nearest building, heading up the stairs, Alfred close behind her. She stopped at a door marked "248" and unlocked it. Inside was small, but because of the scarce amount of furniture, seemed much bigger. There was an old bright red couch, a scratched up wood coffee table, a small TV on top of a little stand, and that was about it, other than a small dining room table with two chairs off to the side, though the table was covered in ripped envelopes and papers with overly neat folds in them. She shut and locked the door before heading directly for what Alfred assumed was the kitchen, while he simply sat himself on the couch, which he assumed he'd be sleeping on. He nervously looked over where he'd stepped on the white carpet to make sure he hadn't tracked dirt in, luckily, he hadn't.

Suddenly, the blond girl's head appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Hungry?" She asked.

"Uh, sure..." Alfred said. She nodded and retreated back in.

He looked at the various items on the table before him, a small stack of books, a hairbrush, a small dish of change, and a picture frame. In the frame was an old looking picture of three children, two girls and a boy, they all had similar hair colors, all similar to Natalia's- in fact, he was pretty sure one of the children _was_ Natalia- she had a stoic look in the picture, as she clung to the boy who he assumed was her brother, and the other girl was probably a sister of sorts. Alfred smiled, it was a cute picture.

A few moments later Natalia came out of the kitchen, a plate in each hand, each plate holding a black container with some kind of food.

"I don't usually have anyone besides family over, and even then that's pretty rare. So all I have are these microwavable dinners... hope you don't mind." She said, handing one of the plates to him and sitting down at the other end of the couch.

"Not at all! Anything beats Arty's cooking!" He laughed, quickly picking up his fork and digging in to what appeared to be turkey and green beans with gravy.

"Oh, well then, good." She said, also starting on her dish.

They ate in silence, the silence that kept returning, though this time it was much more comforting than before. Natalia noted that Alfred ate surprisingly quickly, shoveling down the entire plate within minutes.

"Delicious!" He exclaimed upon finishing, putting his cleared plate down on the table and throwing his arms back behind his head as he leaned into the red couch.

Natalia gave a hint of a smile, "I'm glad you liked it..."

"Yeah," He looked at her, "My compliments to the chef..." He joked, winking. She narrowed her eyes and looked back down at her plate, stabbing a piece of turkey before bringing it to her lips.

"So... your house is really nice looking." He said, looking over the empty white walls, it reminded him vaguely of the storm outside.

"I suppose..." She said, standing up and taking both of their plates back to the kitchen. Alfred stood up and followed her gleefully, he looked around the kitchen, it was very clean and organized, with nearly bare beige marble counters and squeaky clean off-white tiles on the floor, accented by the white walls and light wood cabinets. Natalia tossed the black plastic containers into the trash beneath the sink and put the still very clean plates off to the side on a towel that he guessed was for drying dishes, noting that she didn't have a dishwasher.

She left the kitchen and headed off down the short hall that led to a bathroom, hall closet, and bedroom, she went stopped at the closet, opening it, she reached up and pulled out a periwinkle blanket, then, she headed into the bedroom- Alfred at her heels, following her like a puppy- and grabbed an uncased pillow from what appeared to be the unused side of the queen sized bed. She turned on her heel quickly and handed the items to the blond man, who looked at them, slightly confused.

"They're for you, go put them on the couch." She ordered, he smiled again and nodded, quickly striding out into the living room and plopping the bedding onto one of the cushions before a phone rang abruptly in the room he'd just came from.

He could hear Natalia faintly from where he stood, just barely though.

"Hello?...Oh, no, it's fine... Really? Well, now's not a good time- Oh, well... are you sure? Okay... But I have a guest... Just... Someone... Okay... see you soon." He heard (at least he thought he heard), and before he could contemplate what it was, she came down the hall looking uneasy, he cocked his head to the side and asked.

"What happened?"

"My... my brother called, he wants to see me, I don't know why, probably to make up for leaving me in the park." She mumbled.

"He left you in the park?" He asked, she nodded.

"Today was both of our days off and we decided to meet in the park, despite the snow, but he got called into work last minute and left me there." She muttered almost silently.

"Well, what's so bad about him coming here now? It just means I get to meet him!" Alfred laughed, the laugh she was begging to get used to.

"I-I don't think he's going to be as happy about it, Alfred, he's not to fond of people he doesn't know..." She said, still hushed, but slowly gaining volume.

"Well, I can go, if you want..." He said, "But I'm sure it'll be fine, I mean, you're doing something amazingly kind and selfless, I'm sure he can appreciate that."

She looked up at him, he smiled reassuringly. She desperately wanted to believe him, and trust that her brother wouldn't do something drastic to make her get rid of the young blond man.

She swallowed hard, she didn't want to kick him out after all that, knowing he was too selfless to get himself help, he'd probably get himself killed in the snow, which she knew wouldn't be letting up anytime soon; and even if it was, he didn't deserve to live on the street like that.

"C'mon, let's see what happens first, before we automatically assume he's going to blow up or something." He clapped a hand onto her thin shoulder and she looked away before heading to the couch and sitting down, picking up the picture from the table and looking at it once again, a scene she knew so well, yet never remembered.

She started to wonder what she'd done, and what she'd gotten herself into.

Biting her lip, Natalia spoke faintly, her voice cracking slightly, "Okay..."

Alfred smiled, "It'll be alright," He said, "I'm sure."

She decided to believe him, no matter how hard it was. She felt he was right.

* * *

**Okay, honestly, I need to stop writing random things I can't finish as oneshots. Seriously.**

**So, basically, I may or may not frequent this fic, so don't expect much. I'll update when I have the mind too**

**I am pretty proud of this, since it's technically the single longest chapter I've ever written for anything ever. Ever. So yeah. Yay.**

**R&R and I might update, if enough people like it.**


	2. When the water runs cold

Alfred sat on the couch, rather bored, a larger, also platinum-blond man sitting across from him in one of the chairs from the dining table that sat in the corner of Natalia's living room, said girl sitting as far away from the blue-eyed young man on the couch as possible as she spoke to her brother. Ivan had arrived shortly after their earlier conversation, a little too cheery to be real. Alfred smiled and acted his best, but was unable to like the man, no matter how hard he tried.

"So, Nat says you run a big company." Alfred said, finally breaking the silence that had settled between the siblings, and earning a painfully unhappy smile from the other man.

"Her name is Natalia, not _'Nat',_ Mister..." Ivan paused. "What was your last name?"

"Jones. My name is Alfred F. Jones." He said, smirking. He could feel the girl beside him's eyes digging into the side of his skull, but he was too distracted by the larger man's disguised glare, meeting it with an equal look of smugness he'd never shown much of before. Ivan really wasn't the type he got along with, anyways, but the level of... dislike he felt for him was unique, at best.

Natalia kept from speaking, the tense air in the room almost strangling her. She _really _didn't want the two to fight- or worse.

"Ah, Mr. Jones. Well, you're right, I'm head of a large corporation, yes." Ivan finally said. She looked up, meeting her brother's violet eyes as he stared, she could tell he hadn't wanted that information revealed, especially not to _him._

"Cool, cool... Well, why exactly did you stop by, anyways?" Alfred said, fiddling with the zipper on his jacket.

"I wanted to spend some time with _my _sister, since our park visit was cut short by an important meeting..." Ivan said pointedly, his happy tone hiding underlying anger was hard to miss.

"Ah... Well, spend-away! I'm not stopping you, anyways..." The blue-eyed man said, pushing his glasses up before letting his head loll back into a couch cushion. He could see the cloud-coated white sky just barely out the window that was hidden by the blinds from any other angle.

"Fine then, Natalia, come with me, I need to speak with you briefly." Ivan said, standing up and heading down the hall to the bedroom, Natalia following behind, sparing a worried glance at Alfred before turning the corner.

The platinum-blond man frowned disapprovingly at his sister when they reached the bedroom. She averted her eyes, knowing her brother was going to be disappointed in her, or worse- angry.

"Natalia... why did you invite such a... foul man into your home?" He whimpered, clamping both hands onto her shoulders so she couldn't run, and so she couldn't look away.

"He's not foul... a-and I felt sorry for him... he had no where to go." She mumbled, almost not wanting him to hear her.

"He's _homeless_?" Ivan said incredulously. "Why do you do such... incorrigible things...? You know how much it makes me uncomfortable seeing you with mutts like him-"

"We're not together like that, brother; and I promise, he'll only be here until his room mate lets him go home." She mumbled, a faint pink on her cheeks from the earlier thought, and almost tripping over her words trying to be gentle. Knowing Ivan wouldn't take kindly to any hint of opposition. He'd become used to people following his orders- weather it was their job to or not (he was quite intimidating, after all).

"When will that be?" He asked, quirking his head to the side like a child asking when lunch was, far too innocent for his motives. Natalia desperately wanted to answer him, but she knew she couldn't, so she averted her gaze again, finally, and remained silent.

Ivan narrowed his eyes for a moment, frowning deeply, before smiling happily- though it was an uncomfortable smile, it made you feel as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over your head- not pleasant at all.

"I'll give him a week, then he must be out," He said, she looked up at him, eyes wide with surprise- he was being startlingly generous today. "Or else." he tacked on, her eyes lost a bit of their shimmer, but she still smiled, taking her older sibling into a warm embrace, muttering a soft "Thank you" as he pet her hair lightly.

Alfred still sat on the couch, noting how close they were to the airport by the amount of noisy jets passing over- he counted six already, a surprising amount considering the snowstorm.

The platinum siblings entered the room again and he looked up, a puzzled look on his face as Natalia shot him a slight smile- while Ivan was all-out grinning.

"What happened?" Alfred asked, his eyes shooting from one person to the other.

"Nothing. Everything is fine." She said, glancing at him, then back to her brother. "So, you'll be leaving?"

"Mhmm, I'm afraid so." The taller man nodded, Alfred still stared, confused as to what had gone on while they were away.

"Well, it was great to have you over, brother." She said, following him to the door as he opened it, the cold air seizing the opportunity to slide into her warm condo, Alfred shivered as it passed through his lighter-then-it-looked jacket.

"It's been wonderful for me too," He said, his expression softening as he planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. He looked up from her and at Alfred, giving him the scariest death-grin he'd ever seen, before slipping out the door and into the snow, where he undoubtedly blended in.

Natalia stepped over to the couch, regaining her former place as she took the TV remote and flicked the black screen on and aglow. The blond man just stared at her, not distracted by the electric picture-box for once in his life.

"Um...?" He sounded, she got the hint he wanted to know what Ivan had said, but didn't spare him a glance as she told him.

"Everything's alright, like you said it would be." She spoke calmly, changing the channel as she did.

Alfred beamed, "I told you!" he laughed.

"I know. I believed you." She said, finally settling on a crime drama to watch.

He still grinned, inching closer to the violet-eyed girl as she put down the remote. "So I can stay?"

"For a week, yes." She nodded lightly.

"Great! I'll be able to get a job by then- at least at McDonald's or something- and enough money to pay Arty- Make sure you thank your bro for me, Mmkay?" He practically giggled with happiness, she glanced at him for a moment, ghost of a smile across her lips- It made her feel warm to see him so happy, she wasn't sure why.

"Okay, I will."

Alfred nodded and began humming a little tune- She'd heard it before, somewhere. He did this for a moment before piping up.

"You know, I have a brother- not just Arty- he's actually related to me, and technically my twin." He said, she looked at him, a questioning expression across her features. He smiled again, though less- she could tell this wasn't exactly going to be a good story.

"I haven't seen or talked to him in three years -since I moved in with Arthur- his name is Matthew Williams- he was raised separately, but we were still pretty close as kids..." He spoke quietly, she could barely hear him- but he sounded hurt. "He's living up in the north, he has a lot of resentment towards me, apparently- I always got a lot of attention when we were young. He got much less, he's always been quiet, soft-spoken. Now he doesn't return anything I send- calls, letters- nothing."

"Ah..." She trailed off, having no words to describe how bed he must have felt- he still smiled sadly, staring at his feet.

"It's okay though- I'm sure he's happy- Wherever he is." He looked at her, smiling- but the way his voice cracked gave it all away, and that peculiar shine in his eyes didn't help.

She slid closer to him, taking his hand- to think, she was comforting this man she'd met only a few hours ago, living in the park. She almost couldn't believe herself as she smiled as reassuringly as possible, ignoring the murmurs from the TV as another jet passed by. It rumbled through and almost drowned out the sound of her heart rising to her throat.

Alfred reached up to his eye, using the corner of his jacket to wipe away the tear that had nearly slid away. He squeezed her hand, noticing her pulse, feeling his own try to stay in rhythm with it. He closed his eyes and listened and a few soothing, silent moments passed before Natalia suddenly snapped her hand back awkwardly.

She felt her face heat up and tried to regain composure, glancing sideways at the young man next to her, who's features were also dusted with pink as he slumped in his seat- obviously embarrassed.

Natalia grabbed the remote shakily, turning up the volume on the TV so to drown all her thoughts.

The next few hours were spent in thick, awkward silence, finally, around eight o'clock, it was broken. The platinum-blond girl stood up, sliding the remote towards Alfred as the credits for some show whizzed by on the screen.

"I'm going to bed, feel free to watch what you want." She said stiffly, pausing at the corner. Not daring to look at him. "I'll leave some of Ivan's spare clothes outside my door- I figure you'll want to change."

"Okay." He said solemnly, hoping for some sort of emotion in her voice to break through, and depressed to find none.

"Oh, also," she mentioned, "I have to work tomorrow, I'll be leaving around nine- If you're asleep I'll try not to wake you."

"Okay. G'night." He said, smiling lightly, wondering what he'd done to upset her- or if his mere presence was becoming a burden.

She didn't reply, all he heard was a faint shuffling and squeaking of floorboards and the clicking of her door closing after her. He sighed sadly, getting up and stumbling to the bathroom. Upon turning on the light, he could see the small stack of clothes in the hall lying neatly folded before the shut door. He carefully picked them up, taking them into the living room and placing them in the space between the coffee table and the couch.

Natalia stared at the crack under her door from where she lay in the dark on her plush bed, she saw his shadow pass again, and tried shutting her eyes as she saw it pause, fearing he could some how see her- but knowing he couldn't.

Alfred paused and stared at the girl's door, a sodden look on his face. He crept forward, carefully to keep the age old floors from creaking under his weight- but failing as a plank wailed at him and resounded throughout the tiny apartment. He cringed and tried to reach for the knob- but drew back almost immediately, knowing it was a bad idea- as he didn't want to her to think he was some kind of perverted stalker who would watch her sleep- he quickly turned on his heel and headed back into the restroom to get ready to try and have a comfortable first- and maybe even last- night here.

The platinum-blond still kept her eyes clenched shut, though she was dying to open them. She pulled down her T-shirt that she felt sliding up under the thick comforter she had draped over herself. She finally opened her eyes and watched the unmoving dark spot she knew was him, and trying not to think of how he must have felt not knowing why she was mad- he probably thought he was unwelcome or something. How wrong he was... She shook her head and buried her face in the stiff cotton pillow- she mustn't think of these things! Her brother would not approve- He'd force her to kick him out- or worse, he'd stop paying the rent she couldn't afford.

That was his hold on her- the apartment. He'd pay the rent on her over-priced condominium while she could barely afford basic utilities on her current salary- let alone _food_. If he stopped paying- well, she'd end up like Alfred, basically. Except much less likely to get taken in -given her common disposition against strangers- by anyone short of her brother or sister.

Natalia finally looked back at that splotch of dark, it was gone- in fact, the light was off, too. She could barely make out the faint blue glow of the TV that lay down the hall in the living room. She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, kind of like a sigh of relief upon seeing he'd moved on. She wondered why he'd had such an effect on her- Why she'd even come up with the idea to take him in in the first place- even though truthfully, she knew.

She just hoped it wasn't right.

Alfred sat back down on the couch -now clad in only his American flag boxers- and unfolded the periwinkle blanket, then taking the pillow and placing at one end of the red couch before resting his head on it, the little bit of hair that stood up atop his head bouncing slightly as he settled himself under the quickly-warming wooly blanket. He reached for the remote and clicked the off button, the picture faded fast into a pure black screen. He let his eyes adjust, glancing for a moment at his glasses sitting atop the table next to the remote and his watch, the only light shining in from a streetlamp outside – meant to illuminate the parking lot below- reflecting off the lens, making a spot of light on the ceiling. He stared at it for a bit, contemplating everything. He honestly couldn't believe that last night he was sleeping on a park bench being and poked awake by a cop with a night-stick at four AM. He smiled to himself, nestling into the back cushion of the couch as he let his eyes move to the pitch-dark hallway- his thoughts moved at a lightning fast pace as he recalled the rest of the days events- most of all, his recent interactions with the violet-eyed girl in the next room. He sighed sadly, shutting his eyes after a while and trying to focus on sleeping. But the questions swimming in his head seemed to stop him from even feeling tired, though he knew he was.

He couldn't seem to find any answers there, either- and with virtually every question leading back to the same root problem, he only needed one.

* * *

**'Ello.**

**(FF is being a-hole, making me write the A/N twice- and even after I posted it! (technically))**

**So, wow, I didn't think this would be as popular is it is- but hey, that's great! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, alerted- or, hell, even for just reading this, thank you. It means a lot to me. (It does wonders for my ego.)**

**Anyways, I hope this chapter was satisfactory- or at least enjoyable- I tried (and it was pretty fun to write, fyi). Also, I wouldn't expect me to update this quickly- that is, unless I recieve a bucnch of reviews- and even then it's iffy- I'm actually kind of slow when it comes to these things (see my other fics... yeah.), but if enough people show that they like it- and I have enough of time/brain power I will attempt to chug out a chapter as fast and with as much effort as I can. So yeah.**

**So, review and I'll try to get chapter three finished before laziness takes me over completely (technically, I've already started on it- but that version my not be the one I want to post). Mmkay? Thank you all and I hope you found what I tossed out here at least mildly entertaining. See you next chapter~ (god, that was cheesy...)**


	3. If the morrow were a bird

Natalia woke to the blaring screech of her alarm. She slammed her hand onto the loud device's tiny off button- applying much more pressure to it than necessary- and slid the comforter off. The cold morning air nipped at her skin as she got up, fixing her clothes as she made it to the door.

She was immediately struck with the thought of breakfast- cereal or something simple, she had to get ready, anyways. She opened the door and was immediately greeted with an unusually nice scent; something was cooking- she didn't exactly know what, but her hunger-driven half-asleep mind thought it was enchanting. Wearily the blond girl stepped out into the hall, and as she sleepily glided across the snowy carpets, yesterday's events began to return to her. She paused upon reaching the doorway to the kitchen- and was shocked to see Alfred standing at the stove, making an assortment of delicious breakfast foods he _couldn't_ have gotten from her fridge. He seemed to be concentrating hard on flipping some fried eggs at the moment- tongue sticking out and everything, as well as a dash of blue powder smeared across his forehead- the only odd thing was that the eggs didn't look normal, some of them appeared to be... blue? Green? Red? It was quite a sight, considering that most of the other foods were also like this.

"Er... Alfred?" She finally mumbled; he looked up after finally managing to get a red one perfectly placed on its backside.

The blond man grinned, waving his spatula happily. "Hey, Nat!" he said cheerily. "How'd ya sleep?"

"Good..." She lied- sleep hadn't come easily, nor comfortably, but that was beside the point. "What is all this?" She said incredulously, stepping onto the splattered tiles.

"Oh, well... It's sort of a thank you breakfast, for you! And an apology, since it seemed like you were pretty mad... and, well, I wasn't sure if you were mad at me or something else... Anyways, I hope you like it..." He giggled, by the time he was finished a dash of pink lingered on his cheeks, though Natalia wasn't sure if it was just the heat from the stove or something else.

"Ah..." She nodded, a tad pink herself. "Well, where did you get all this? And... why are those pancakes blue?" She asked finally.

"Oh, well, I told you I had six bucks, and then I found four more in my jacket. So, I ran out earlier and got some bacon, pancake mix, and food coloring- because colors make food just that much more awesome." He laughed, motioning towards a small box and the various half-empty little tear-shaped containers of liquid.

"I see..." She said, taking it in for a moment- and she had to admit, despite the colors, it looked and smelled pretty delicious- hell, it _sounded _delicious. "Thank you..." She mumbled.

His grin spread even more, something she thought wouldn't be possible. "No prob', it's the least I can do!"

She nodded awkwardly, avoiding his eyes while he still looked at her, focusing on anything but his big, blue eyes- the faint pink still lingered on her cheeks, she could feel it.

The platinum-blond girl focused instead on his clothes -he wore a white T-shirt she'd recognized from the ones she'd given him, and what appeared to be boxers with a vibrant flag print- until he finally turned back to the stove to continue trying to flip a blue egg and keep it from blending with the green or red ones.

She decided she might as well go sit down, seeing as the coffee pot was already on and in the process of making her morning caffeine supply. Once at the scarlet couch -which she was glad to see hadn't been left in disarray by the man, not that she expected him to leave it that way, she just hadn't been sure_ what _to expect- she looked back to her TV, recognizing the show currently on as being one of the heavily advertised and rather generic sitcoms she'd seen before. She leaned back, ignoring the canned laughter and just staring up at the rough plaster ceiling. She stayed like that for a moment, still noting the wafting scent from the kitchen, and trying to loose all focus on, well, anything. She didn't want to deal with anything right now, knowing what thoughts would creep up on her- either those of her brother, of work, or of the way she'd acted yesterday evening and it's clear effects, or any other troubles that loomed in her mind.

Her head lolled to the side, glancing at the simple black and white clock on the wall -it read seven fourteen- surprised to see it'd gotten so late. She almost sprang upright as Alfred trotted into the room with two full platters balanced in either hand, beaming he spoke.

"Where do you want these?" He asked, she stood and motioned towards the small glass dining room table shoved in the corner, quickly rushing before him to clear away the old bills and paperwork she'd left messily strewn across it over eons of opening mail there.

He put down the dishes -all covered in colored breakfast foods- before stepping aside to get her chair for her, she hesitantly sat down and he gently pushed in the chair.

"Didn't realize you'd be such a gentleman," She said quietly.

He shrugged, "I suppose Arty's taught me well, he always prided himself on being one of those," he snickered. "Though he's not all that good at it."

She smiled weakly as he headed back to the kitchen, undoubtedly to fetch more rainbow food and other oddities. She looked at what was currently before her: green, red, and blue pancakes sat, doused in butter, with a pile of sausage, as well as bacon of both the Canadian verity and not. Then what must have been an entire container of eggs, half scrambled and half fried- all colored. She wasn't sure if she should eat the plate, or take a picture of it. It was the most extravagant breakfast she'd seen since her brother took her and her sister too that swanky hotel for vacation, and even then it wasn't half as colorful.

The young blond man came back with a large tray -one of the fancy silver ones Natalia had gotten from some distant aunt who died a few years back and never used- on which were a pair of large plates, a few bottles of syrup, various silverware, a plate of butter, and two mugs of coffee. He placed it beside the larger plates and began to unload the tray gingerly, plate, coffee, fork, spoon, knife- soon all were placed before her and in the spot she assumed he'd be occupying across from her, as well as the syrup and butter placed about the plates on the table.

It all must have finally seemed perfect in his eyes, as he smiled widely and nodded to himself for a moment before quickly returning the tray to the kitchen, and taking his spot at the table. He immediately began loading his plate with the various foods from the larger platters, before stopping, noticing the platinum-blond girl who was unmoving, just staring at him.

"What?" He asked, his head tipping to the side, like a dog confused at something, a sad look crept across his features. "Don't you like it?"

"Of course..." She said, looking down, not wanting to see him like that.

All was still for a moment, until Alfred put down his fork and reached across hesitantly, to caress her cheek, to comfort her, but found his hand immediately and painfully slapped away, he winced.

Natalia gasped and covered her mouth, gripping the hand she'd just used to hit him tightly, almost strangling it. She could feel tears well up in her eyes, but refused to let them flow. She finally choked out a few hushed words.

"I'm so, so sorry." She said at little more then a whisper, which could have been mistaken for a sob, or a breath.

Alfred looked up from his hand, smiling brightly once again, her eyes widened in further shock.

"It's okay, I understand." He said, and she couldn't hold those stupid tears in anymore.

She sobbed, breaking down. Here this man had made her this- this- unbelievable meal, and clearly put a lot of work into it, spent his last few dollars on her, and tried to comfort her, and she'd gone and hurt him, _hurt him! _She couldn't believe herself- even if it had been a knee-jerk reaction, she should have controlled herself. She was better then that.

"I-I'm sorry! So, s-so- I-I..." She sobbed out, eyes clenched shut. But before she knew it, the young man had gotten up from his seat, and taken her into a close embrace, she just sat there, almost frozen as he began to speak.

"I told you, it's okay," He said quietly. "I understand," he laughed, "And besides, it didn't even hurt."

She just breathed, his bright, sunflower yellow hair brushed against her cheek as he pulled back, hands on her shoulders. He grinned at her, Natalia couldn't help but find herself smiling slightly, disregarding the pink hue that was no doubt creeping onto her cheeks yet again.

For a long moment, she just stared at the blue orbs hovering before her through the wavy wall of tears that built up and spilled over and over.

"Thank you." She finally whispered.

He tilted his head, brow raised. "For what?" He chuckled.

"All of it."

He gave a hearty laugh, standing up straight, hands on his hips. "No problem! I'm a hero after all!"

"Again with that hero thing?" She smirked, finally turning to her food as soon as she saw he was returning to his seat. Feeling remarkably better remarkably fast.

"Well, Arty has his whole 'gentleman' thing, and I have my own 'hero' thing, I guess." He shrugged.

"And have you fulfilled your hero duties correctly?"

"I like to think so."

She nodded and stabbed a blue pancake, dragging it back to her plate before going after some of the purple bacon (how he'd managed purple, she'd never know).

Once the violet-eyed girl had decided she'd stocked her plate with enough food to taste the rainbow twice over, she began to eat- something Alfred had already accomplished long before her- and found that, despite the radiant colors, the food was quite delicious.

She sipped her coffee -which, luckily, wasn't green or some other shade of non-coffee- and smiled at the man who'd prepared her the scrumptious rainbow feast, having cleaned her plate most of the way, finally looked at the small clock on the wall once again.

She was glad to see she still had an hour and a half until she had to leave, which meant she could wade around in her much more comfortable pajamas for a little longer rather then go shower and change into her far-more-constricting work clothes, made of -usually- dress pants and blouse.

"Hey Nat?" Alfred chimed in, interrupting her thoughts.

"Mmhmm?"

"Where do you work, anyways?" He asked, doing that confused dog thing again, except far less sad looking this time.

"Oh," She guessed he'd noticed the impending time as well. "Just this office place, cubicles, that kind of thing."

"Ah." He nodded, and the silence began creeping in once again.

"You know... You should look for jobs as a waiter or something," She told him. "You have excellent balance with dishes, and you set up the table perfectly."

He laughed halfheartedly, "That's kind of what I got fired from..."

"Oh..." She looked down at the white carpet, "Sorry."

"Don't be!" He laughed, regaining full happiness quickly. "My boss had been an ass anyways..." He snorted.

She smiled, she knew how that was, sort of. Her own current boss was really just... dull, rather plain, but her former boss had been kind of a jerk.

"That and I let this old lady get away with not paying, because her son was in the hospital, and she'd just wanted to get out and have a nice meal, but found herself about twenty dollars short of her tab." He added, she looked up as he traced shapes with his finger on the rough glass of the table. "Boss said it was the last time I let poor people off easy, even though I said he could take the cost out of my pay, he wouldn't have it, and fired me."

"That's... really nice of you to do..." She mumbled, "Even though it cost you your job."

He smiled, "I just figured it was the right thing to do, you know?"

She nodded, she did. Taking him in had been one of those moments, she supposed.

Natalia looked at the clock again, and decided now was the time to start getting ready, standing up, she was about to pick up her plate when Alfred stopped her.

"I'll get it," he said. She was about to protest when he cut in, "I used to do it for a living, it's fine."

She nodded hesitantly before speaking, "Okay, and I know I already said this, but thank you," she smiled, "Really."

He laughed, "No problem! My pleasure, in fact!" And trotted off into the kitchen with the plates.

She smiled slightly and headed to the bathroom, he watched her as she passed by the entry way to the kitchen and passed him a brief glance as he rinsed a dish.

He was thrilled she'd liked his food, honestly, he couldn't have felt better.

He chuckled lightly as he thought of what his room mate's reaction too what he'd prepared might have been, probably something like: "You bloody idiot! Nobody is going to want to eat something if it's radiating colors!" or "You don't feed that to a lady- especially a lady your trying to impress- and don't give me that 'She's just a friend' bull, I know what your trying to do-"

"Whoa, back up a bit Arty impression, you're getting ahead of yourself," he muttered to himself.

"Bullocks. Pure bullocks. Don't think that stupid grin you pass her hides anything, idiot." The figment said.

"Oh yeah?" Alfred said in a hushed voice, looking a tad bit like a crazy person, "I'm just being nice! She took me in for heaven's sake-"

"I said don't use that excuse! It's old and trodden upon far too many times, besides, it's clear as day what you meant, I can see it in your pink face."

"W-well- You're not real!"

"Sure I'm not, but at least I'm not going to get killed by a giant with business ties for falling for his sister."

"Shut up! I'm trying to wash this frickin' plate!"

"Ah, take a look there, Al. You're cleaning a little hard."

And sure enough, he was squeezing and scrubbing the plate out of existence, he silently apologized to the poor abused green ceramic dish and put it aside.

"Told you so, and now look, you're having an argument with the imaginary version of your ex-brother, and loosing."

"Shut up!" Alfred finally shouted, pointing a soapy finger at his forehead. Luckily, no one heard.

"...Fine then, if you don't want me to tell you the truth, I won't. Even if it's true."

"Good, now go, I don't need you mucking up my head with your imaginary bullshit."

"My bullshit isn't imaginary, it's perfectly real." Imaginary-Arty said matter-o'-factly, before realizing, "Wait a second-"

And as if on cue, Alfred heard the opening of the bathroom door, which kindly jarred him from his delusions.

As quickly as the bathroom door opened, Natalia's bedroom door closed. Alfred sighed in relief, glad she hadn't heard him muttering at the figment of his stupid British room mate.

He must have looked like at total nut job, and maybe, he was, a little. But lets focus away from that for now.

Alfred stalked back into the living room to fetch the rest of the dishware, which he cleaned and stacked accordingly before once again returning to the living room, specifically, the pile of clothes next to the couch. He decided to try looking for something that wasn't completely too big or just too casual- he had to start looking for a job after all.

Luckily, he found a not-too-shabby button-up old dress shirt that didn't look _too_ too large and a nice pair of jeans -he figured this would be good enough to at least get a job waiting tables somewhere near by.

He took these clothes into the still-steamy bathroom and changed, finding that the shirt fit near-perfectly, and the jeans -despite being rather tattered at the bottom- were quite comfortable. He ran a hand through his hair as a makeshift comb, nudging that piece atop his head that never stayed down, laughing at it in the mirror he'd wiped off. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and he jumped, before a familiar voice spoke.

"I need to do my hair, you almost done?" Natalia asked through the door, Alfred smiled and opened it. She was standing there wearing a blue-gray blazer over a black shirt and black dress pants. He grinned.

"You look nice," He said, stepping aside and out of the small room.

"Thanks," she smiled at him and picked up her brush, running it through her hair calmly, hoping he wouldn't notice the dash of pink hinting at her cheeks (she wished she could stop doing that, but it seemed to be impossible to prevent).

He wandered away from the doorway just in time though, to miss it, and headed into the living room yet again, to plop on the couch. He flipped through the channels for a little while, before deciding there was nothing on (one of his most irksome pet-peeves), he sighed and laid back again, peering through the blinds and at the sky just as a jet passed over. He unenthusiastically made a mental tally mark as it crossed the unchanging white background, figuring he had nothing better to do then count planes again.

But a few moments later Natalia emerged from the hall, hair pulled up awkwardly in a neat bun and black leather bag slung over her shoulder. Alfred frowned.

"You look better with your hair down," He said, standing up, "Or at least, not with it all pulled out of your face like that..."

She raised a brow at him as he suddenly began fiddling with the various bobby-pins she'd practically had to embed in her skull. Normally, she would've protested anything like this, but decided that maybe his input was helpful- she never did like having her hair like that, it required too many clips and painful pins.

A few moments later, Alfred sucked in the tongue that had been protruding out the side of his mouth as he worked, and grinned. "There!" he exclaimed, and practically drove her back to the bathroom.

He flipped on the light and faced her towards the mirror. She was shocked to see that he'd somehow managed to fix the 'too-much-hair-in-her-face' problem with letting her bangs down, and the perfect amount of silvery-blond hair sat on her brow, as well as her bun having been undone into a much-nicer ponytail. She was shocked.

"How did you...?" She muttered in astonishment as he put down about five bobby-pins on the counter.

"My real brother, Matthew, he has longer hair, and after a while I picked up on what his brother Francis did to keep it out of his eyes from watching, so that way when Mattie stayed over he wouldn't be running into things because of it, like usual, and instead I could fix it when Francis couldn't." He laughed triumphantly, "Of course, it took a lot of practice, trial and error, but I got after a while!"

"That's... wow. Thanks." She said, looking up at him.

"No problem," he said, "I'm actually a little surprised I can still do it!"

She smiled and they both left the bathroom, walking back out into the living room.

"Well, I guess I should get going," she motioned towards the clock as they stood at the door. "I'll be back around five, or so." She said, he nodded, still grinning.

"Mmkay, I'll try and have a job by then!" He laughed.

She smiled, "There's a bunch of little restaurants and shops down the street, I'm sure someone there will hire you."

"Let's hope so," He said jokingly, "So, see ya."

She nodded and opened the door, "See you."

"Bye!"

"Bye."

The cold breeze entered as quickly as it was sucked back out, and in a matter of seconds he was alone.

Alfred sighed, walking over to the couch again and picking up his jacket, slipping it on over the button-up shirt, and found his sneakers.

He flicked off the TV, made sure everything was as it should be -wouldn't want the place to burn down, after all- before heading for the door, and out into the cold.

* * *

**(Oh I hate you FF, making me write this AN again, AGAIN! ...But I still love you, so shut up.)**

**Er, hello. Sorry about my deadness, I was mega-sick, had to go to the hospital and everything, it sucked. But hey, this chapter is the longest yet! I think that counts for something... right?**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! I know it got... weird, at points, but I tried! So yeah.**

**Review? Because I love you, and I have muffins. (Okay, I don't have muffins, but I still love you.)**


	4. Even farther

Natalia's car was small, but she didn't mind, she knew it wasn't much to brag about – having gotten it from her sister when she upgraded a few years ago – so she still wiped the snow off the windshield as the engine slowly heated up. She had poured the remainder of the coffee that had been left over into her gray thermos, which was currently lodged between the passenger and driver's seats in the neat little cup holder she always placed it in. Finally, after sufficiently freezing her hands off and soaking the mittens she'd plucked from the glove compartment, it was decided that the windshield was snow-free enough to see through. So she took her place in the cold leather front seat, peeling off her sopping gloves and tossing them aside to dry and be dealt with later, holding her hands in front of the slow-starting heater to make sure she didn't get frost bite.

She strapped herself in and began backing out of her space, driving through the large, deserted parking lot before coming to the exit, and sliding onto the rancid-snow coated road. Quickly coming to a red light just down the street, she paused to sip her drink, smiling at the taste, figuring Alfred had added something extra. Of course, she'd noticed that before, but it wasn't as prominent then as it was now (she had been a tad distracted by the rainbow of a meal, anyways).

As she pressed the gas peddle once again when the red light flickered to green, she tried to force thoughts of the man out of her head. Not that he was a problem to think about, she just knew if she started now, she'd be distracted all day. Her brother wouldn't like it if he had to get her another job – or worse, get her original job _back; _and everyone already knew the boss – though vapid as he was – disliked her immensely, mostly because instead of working hard to get where she was – which she actually _had, _to their obliviousness, but that fact seemed to be overlooked by most of her co-workers – her brother had given her a slight boost. Most of the other employees constantly watched her, in the hopes of catching her doing something wrong, she'd been reported for menial mishaps – typing the wrong digit onto a spread sheet, forgetting to return a stapler, etc – but luckily her boss's secretary was a nice woman who would shred those null documents before they got within arms reach of her boss, knowing that most complaints about Natalia were simple annoyances from the other office workers. The secretary had also informed her that she'd overheard a few of her newer co-workers spreading rumors that Natalia had _slept _with various higher ups to get where she was, which – being as her job was really not all that classy or high in the company food-chain – was insanely preposterous, but she just scoffed and decided to ignore them. Not wanting to have to deal with grown adults acting like pompous school children.

Pushing those thoughts out of her mind as well, she drove past a street sign marked "Morgan Dr," and turned left, a stout office building stood just past a row of houses, she slowed down and drove up to the small booth at the security gate, rolling down the window. Peering out as far as she could over the door, she spied the burly security guard who grumbled slightly as he leaned out the booth window to scan her ID, his rather large stomach pressing awkwardly against the small ledge beneath the window.

He slid slowly back into the large box-like booth, placing the scanner on its stand and flicking a bit of snow out of his thick mustache as he checked the screen, confirming Natalia's ID was legitimate. Seeing that it was, he pressed a button next to the keyboard and the black and yellow pole rose before her, until she could pass, which she did, and immediately headed for her division's assigned quadrant of the parking lot, and then to her personal space.

She turned off the car, tossing the keys into her bag, and grabbed her cup before exiting the vehicle. She started down the bleak looking lot, avoiding as many dark slush-puddles as she could. Feeling the bits of unavoidable flurry soaking into her shoes, she grimaced, knowing that they wouldn't be dry for hours after this.

After what felt like ages of dodging mounds of disgusting colored snow, Natalia finally reached the entrance, scanning her ID card against a small pad next to the door. The pad beeped to let her know the door was unlocked, and she pushed it open to be greeted by a nice burst of hot air.

Briskly walking down the hall, and into her division, she ignored the looming eyes hanging over her as she passed. Knowing they were just staring for the sake of staring, it wasn't worth it to retaliate.

After passing many silent – and sometimes not – watchers, she finally got to the long range of gray cubicle walls, and turned down the first corridor, passing other stations decorated with pictures of children, husbands, wives, and family of all sorts, as well as little nicknacks like snow globes, there was even someone who'd stapled a rubber chicken to the wall (and if she remembered correctly, that was the same young man who'd apparently filled the coffee maker with jello on more than one occasion, and to the utter displeasure of most of the staff).

Finally she arrived at her station, placing her black bag on the desk next to a large monitor, she lightly pressed the silver button on the main computer beneath it. A faint whirring could be heard from the machine, she turned away, picking up her coffee gingerly and sipping it – still warm, she noted – before leaning back in her chair and shutting her eyes, trying to drown out the chatter from the other cubicles and corridors. It was like a busy schoolyard.

After a few moments of unattainable silence, she opened her eyes to see her monitor with the "Select User" screen fully loaded. She lurched forward and clicked on her name, the little password box came up and she quickly tapped the appropriate keys to spell it out. It glided into the "Welcome!" screen, and she sank back once again into her not-half-as-comfortable-as-she'd-like-it-to-be chair to wait for her desktop to load.

She lolled her head to the side and stared at the opening in the cubicle walls that lead out to the corridor, the entrance was almost directly parallel with another worker's – a plump old lady who was known for having an endless supply of Hostess mini-muffins – she peered in to see that the occupant wasn't there. Not really paying that fact any mind, Natalia kicked off and let her chair spin around lazily to face the small shelve opposite her desk – which consisted of a standard supply drawer, hole punch, stapler, and various other office supplies she'd manage to keep (her co-workers weren't exactly fond of sharing, but absolutely adored stealing, it seemed, especially from the fridge in the break room) – she reached over and grabbed a staple remover, and began squeezing it uninterestedly, kicking off once again to turn her chair.

This time she landed in front of her monitor once again, though fully loaded to her desktop this time, which one of her cheerier work-friends – not that she had many – had set up to have a picture of a cartoon snowflake as the background. She stared at it for a moment, recalling what Alfred had said the day before, and everything that had changed, finding these thoughts unavoidable as she stared at the white pattern sitting neatly on a foggy blue screen. She bit her lip, clicking the green icon in the corner and flipping through various windows, until finally, one came up for selecting a background.

Her mouse lingered over the drop-down box that would allow her to select another picture, pending between changing image from the cheesy reminder of the current season and not. Knowing that every time she looked at her desktop she'd be reminded of him (and as she'd noted earlier was one thing that ushered her towards the former idea, but some unrecognizable force kept her from going through with it. She shook her head and ignored it, choosing to close the window and click on one of the icons that dusted the screen. Quickly the company email system came up, and showed five new messages.

Two were from her division leader – a chipper young man who had a prominent obsession with batman – most likely her to-do list for the day and the new-workweek bulletins he was so fond of writing. The others were a message from that secretary, another from her boss, and the last one from another worker in a different division complaining about people taking his lunches and desecrating his limited edition Lost poster he'd waited two weeks in the mail for.

Natalia quickly read through them until the only message left was the one from her boss, requesting her to report to him as soon as she read it. She sighed, taking a brief sip of her coffee before standing up and starting down the rows of gray walls.

At the end of the rows was a long hallway lined with wooden doors, she carefully approached one of the doors on the left, reading the name on the door as the desired one, she entered it, coming into the secretary's office. The young woman looked up and smiled weakly, motioning for Natalia to enter the door to the right of her desk.

She stepped across the dark gray carpeting and up to the door, almost flinching at the startlingly cold doorknob (didn't they have a heating system to prevent that?). Upon entering the room, she was met with a pair of beady eyes deep in their sockets as her superior stood up and walked across the room, he would've looked menacing, but being a full foot shorter than her and fat as a hog wasn't exactly intimidating (and honestly, if he'd had a beard, he would've resembled Santa Clause a startling amount).

"Miss... Arlovskaya. Shocking, how long it takes you to receive a simple message," he droned, crossing his arms over his potbelly.

"Sorry," she mumbled, staring down at him.

"Well, we can't have late employees," he said, his voice was as lively as a cadaver, and bored into Natalia's head like a lazy woodpecker, agonizingly slow but quickly dreadful.

"I'll try harder, sir."

"Yes... Now, aside from you lack of punctuality, I don't have anything truly pressing to ask you about," he growled, as if wishing he had, and she knew it was exactly that, too. "But... I have this letter, from the head of the corporation..." The stout man pulled out a pale blue envelope, and handed to her. She recognized the sharp, near-illegible scrawl across the back immediately, spelling out her last name, her brother's writing stared menacingly at her as she clutched the parcel.

"Thank you, sir..." she mumbled, eyes still lingering on the deceiving light blue of the envelope.

He grunted and motioned towards the door, before waddling back to his heavily polished desk. She took it as a hint to leave (whether it was or not, she was still evacuating the stuffy, air-freshener plagued office as soon as she possibly could) and quickly took the door she'd entered before, not even glancing at the secretary, too preoccupied with thoughts of what bad news could be lurking within those paper walls pressed between her thumb and forefinger.

Finally, after a mindless walk back to her cubicle (which she regretted leaving unattended, as about a third of her pens were absent when she returned), she propped the letter up against the gray false wall and stared, yet again, absently at the large white snowflake shown across her computer screen. Thoughts of Alfred came rushing back as quickly as before, but even more unwelcome this time, she reached out and pressed the power button in the right corner of the monitor, and it faded to black. Sighing, she sank into her chair for a moment, before snatching up the insufferable parcel on her desk, and tearing the overly-strong glue along with the flap it was attached to until she had access to the contents of the now-mutilated envelope.

Inside was a recently printed letter and a check, her stomach lurched as she unfolded the crisp white page. She began read the note, it was typed out exactly as her brother would speak, so much she could hear his voice ominously in her head.

"My dear sister, this is the last rent check I will be providing you with if you do not keep your promise and have the mutt out by the end of the week," it read, she glanced at the check sitting next to her keyboard briefly before returning to the letter. "I will come by on Sunday to make sure of this, and if he is not out, there will be consequences. But until then, I wish you well, Natalia." The letter ended abruptly, uncomfortably, only taking up the very top of the page, quite a waste of paper. After refolding it, she put the letter aside and picked up the check, looking at over before reaching for her bag and slipping it into one of the zipper compartments that lined the inside, then, she also grabbed the crisp refolded paper, and tossed it in as well.

A few moments passed in ear-ringing silence as the seemingly endless chatting of the others in the building had died down. Natalia reached out and pressed the power button on her monitor like she had before, and the cycle began once again with that cartoon snowflake reflecting off her eyes, and familiar thoughts of the blond man humming to life in her head.

Meanwhile, that same man was making his way up the snow-glazed and abandoned sidewalk in silence, his breath visible before him as he went, and hands deep in his jacket pockets. The shops Natalia had mentioned had all refused to hire him, so he had headed further down the street, stopping at any shop he happened to pass, though still, no luck.

He'd ended up in a fairly residential area (if you could call it that), inhabited by many old brick apartment buildings, as well as tiny run down bakeries and farmers markets that had also refused him. He recognized a few little buildings near by from passing them occasionally, back when he had a car (or borrowed Arthur's, as the case may be, he'd sold his car to make his last payment to him). He briefly peered inside a small cafe, which was all but vacant except for a shriveled old lady reading a magazine in the corner, and the scowling young man behind the counter who'd rudely told him to get out when he'd inquired about a job.

Alfred moved on, making his way up a slightly inclined road, hoping he wouldn't slip backwards on the ice and end up sliding down and into the intersection at the base of the hill. That_ really _wouldn't be pleasant, obviously.

He kept walking for the next few blocks in silence, cars occasionally (but very rarely) drifting by as the snow fell again. Stopping at an intersection, he stared down a street, noticing a few places he hadn't tried, he turned an began down the equally bleak street. The first store he came to was a little hobby shop, he scanned the window to find a help wanted sign taped to the corner, and the open sign aglow above it. He grinned and straightened his shirt, padded down his hair, tried to make himself look less like a bum, and opened the door.

The round old woman behind the counter looked up from her magazine as the little bell on the door rang, Alfred stepped up to the counter happily.

"Hi, I'm, uh, here about the sign in your window, I'm looking for a job... So, are you the manager?" He asked, it was quite awkward, as the woman just stared up at him through her large round glasses.

Finally, the woman smiled and hopped off her stool, proving that she was really, _really _short. She trotted around the counter until she was in front of him, and stopped for a moment, looking him over.

"Mhmm! Very nice!" she said, "Yes, yes, I'd say you'll be of great help..." The woman laughed and nodded. "Well, I suppose we should talk with Harold first..."

"Harold?" Alfred asked, puzzled at, well, everything.

"My husband." she said, he nodded. "Now come, come... He's upstairs." The woman waddled over to a doorway in the corner, which was covered by beads, rather than an actual door, and parted them walking upstairs after quickly motioning for him to follow. He dipped his hands into his pants pockets and was about to when he felt something small and cold brush around his fingers, and paused for a moment.

He pulled the object out to find that it was a silver necklace, the thin chain tied in knots from being crumpled up in the pocket, but the pendant -a dark blue, tear cut stone set in silver, to match the chain- was still perfect. Alfred stared at it for a moment, wondering how it had gotten there, and eventually concluding it was Natalia's. With a final glance he slid it into his jacket pocket and followed after the short woman and up the dark wood stairs.

As he ascended the dimly lit, photograph lined staircase, he couldn't help but think on the necklace, and planned to ask Natalia about it later. He pushed aside that issue as he reached the top of the steps, where the old woman stood, grinning in front of an open door as she merrily chatted with it's occupant, who appeared to be an old man sitting at an antique redwood desk coated with miscellaneous nicknacks.

Alfred took a breath and came forward as the old woman beckoned him over, he gave his best smile and the man returned it calmly, the fan in the corner blowing the few wisps of white hair left on his head.

"So, boy, what's your name?"

* * *

**I'm just going to start by saying sorry for making my awesome readers wait so long! Gah, I've been busy, and lazy. But now I'm on break, and I hope to actually get stuff done... But no promises.**

**Anyways, this chapter is insanely boring, I know, and I'm sorry. But don't worry, I actually have a plan for next chapter (and the rest of the story too, shocking, I know), and yeah. And you may have noticed, but I didn't reach the lovely 4000 word combo-goal-thing I'd hoped for, I did try though... and fail.**

**Also, thank you to everyone who favorited, reviewed, or alerted. You deserve a medal for your awesomeness, a medal made of chocolate (or some other delicious substance).**

**So, reviews are like cupcakes, and cupcakes are delicious. I don't know what the point of that was, but I want a cupcake now.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	5. Reevaluting & Welcome Back

The rest of the day had sped by at a startling pace; Natalia noted this as she silently packed up her things, organizing various documents in preparation to leave. She'd spent most of her day glued to her screen, nothing too important or interesting passing by her desk. An all around uneventful day.

She hoisted her bag over her shoulder, reaching over to turn off her monitor yet again (having already shut off the main computer). The cartoon-y snowflake flashing in her mind again, she anticipated returning home and seeing Alfred again with mixed emotions, hoping that he'd been hired so that he could be out before her brother had a fit (and his fits were no laughing matter). At the same time, she almost wanted him to not get a job so soon, to prolong his stay. But no, she refused to let the latter of those dominate (no matter how powerful it was getting, and it was quite overbearing now); it was for the best.

Starting down the hallway she continued to try and silence her thoughts, managing to only shove them half way into a closet at the back of her mind – though that was good enough. She speedily stepped back through the maze of halls and cubicles, finding herself at that front door once again. To her utmost annoyance, it was still snowing. Unhappily preparing to have her shoes re-soaked in icy water she pushed the heavy door open, the cold air pelting her face as she took off into the lot.

Once at her car she wiped the snow off her windshield and sat down in the freezing vehicle, starting it and the warming process. She sat for a moment, just staring at the cloudy sky, trying to make out shapes in the near-indistinguishable clouds. She spotted an airplane which was quickly sucked into a cottony mass and hidden from view. After a few moments of bored staring Natalia finally corrected herself, pulling her seat belt over her and clicking it into place before pulling out of the space and beginning through the parking lot and towards the security bar.

Stopping only briefly to have the black and yellow railing lifted she sped down the road, wanting to get back home as soon as possible. The streets were decorated with leafless trees decked out in Christmas lights and red ribbons. She had almost forgotten the time of year, not that it really mattered. She never did anything for the holidays anyways.

After a few more streets and stoplights she finally reached the shops and restaurants she'd sent Alfred to. She took a few brief glaces at the storefronts, partially hoping to see him busy fixing something or stringing decorations above windows, but was sadly disappointed.

She was at a red light, stopping to let a small blue car turn when she noticed something: on one of the corners of the intersection was a vacant lot piled with snow, and in the middle a group of kids were having a snowball fight (or at least, appeared to be). But that wasn't what caught her eye. There, crouching behind a pile of snow, was Alfred. Natalia parked, just staring at the scene before her, and before she knew it she was stepping out of her car and making her way through the lot. The sounds of laughter grew louder as she approached. A few kids saw her coming and stopped mid-throw, while Alfred didn't notice her at all.

As she came closer the kids all froze, and finally Alfred turned around. He grinned and stood up, brushing the snow off his clothes.

"Hey Nat!" he said happily. She smiled as the children stared and whispered to each other. "I was just having some fun with my new friends..." He laughed, motioning behind him at the kids.

"I see." Natalia nodded.

"Yeah," he said before turning around and saying to the children, "Hey guys, I have to go now, sorry."

A chorus of "aw"s rung from the group as they all began to scatter. Natalia frowned.

"You can stay if you want, I'll wait," she said. He looked quickly back to her and some of the kids stopped to listen.

"You sure? I don't want to make you wait out in the cold..."

"It's fine. I can wait in the car."

"Okay, thanks, Nat." He beamed and turned around, before stopping suddenly and turning back. "Wait! I have an idea! You can play too!"

"W-what? No, I - " she stuttered, but it was too late. Alfred grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the snow-mound opposite his.

"You can play for the other team, it'll be fun!" he said enthusiastically. She almost protested, but his warm grin made it impossible. "That's okay with you guys, right?"

The children let out a mixed sound of approval and returned to their respective sides. Natalia crouched behind the wall with the kids, and the icy orbs began to fly. Cries of laughter and various shouts of dismay filled the air once again. She swallowed and peered over the mound briefly only to receive a snowball to the face.

Her skin stung as she wiped the snow out of her eyes; it was surprisingly painful for a ball of puffy ice. She picked up her own clump of snow and began to shape it, another ball dive-bombing her in the back as she did so. She ignored the freezing wet spot that soaked through her thin garments.

Finally she took her compacted snow and aimed. Finding Alfred (who was tossing snowballs like a human cannon) to be the largest target she threw, and amazingly, hit him smack dab in the ear. He stopped and looked around for a moment. She smirked slightly when his eyes reached her, and he grinned again.

Suddenly Natalia felt a slight jab in her shoulder and looked over to see a small girl in a pink parka next to her.

"Is he your boyfriend?" the girl asked her, and she felt her face heat up enough to melt the snow in her bangs.

She finally spoke up. "Uh, no..." The little girl nodded and crawled off away from her. Natalia shook off the blush as best she could (not at all) and picked up another lump of snow to throw again.

The battle went on for quite a while – or at least, it seemed that way, it had gotten much darker than when she'd shown up – and was proving to be quite fun. Finally a large SUV drove up and a woman called the children over to leave. All except a couple waved goodbye and entered the vehicle, while those who hadn't walked off towards the residential area nearby, leaving Alfred and Natalia alone.

Alfred's nearly constant grin was still there as he approached her. "Guess we should be leaving," he said. She nodded and the two began back towards her car in silence.

The quiet lingered uncomfortably yet again until she finally spoke up. "So, you find a job?"

He laughed nervously. "Kind of..." he said, smiling halfheartedly. "One place said they'd consider me, but they have others also hoping for the job, so... no, not really."

"Oh..."

"Yeah... how about you? How was your day?" He looked at her.

"Good, good..." she mumbled, a half truth, one could say.

Alfred nodded. "Cool..."

The wind whistled slightly as they reached the car, taking their respective seats on either side. The faintest warmth remained from before, though Natalia still turned the car on as fast as possible to replace the lost heat.

Streetlights flickered on as they sped past, making light conversation. It was odd, Natalia thought, she'd never thought it'd be quite so nice to have someone to talk to after work, besides her brother.

"...and there was this cat, too, it kind of looked like a really fluffy chihuahua though – oh, we're here," Alfred said, unfortunately never finishing his story. Natalia parked in the same spot she'd left that morning.

The two got out and trekked up to her apartment, the windows of which had fogged over, to show only the faintest outline of the blinds beneath. Natalia unlocked and opened the door, turning on the light as she stepped in and unbuttoned her coat. She then hurried to the thermostat to reheat the now lukewarm room. Alfred took off his shoes and landed on the couch with an exhausted sigh, his glasses becoming lopsided as he leaned his head back, just as he had previously.

Dipping a hand into his pocket unconsciously, he sat back up, feeling the cold metal of the necklace against his hand. He looked towards the hall it's presumed owner had disappeared down, only to hear the resonating _click_ of her bedroom door.

He leaned back again, pulling his glasses off his face and shutting his eyes. _I'll tell her when she gets back, _he thought tiredly,_ I wonder how it ended up in that pocket, anyways..._

Meanwhile, Natalia quickly changed out of her stuffy work clothes and into more comfortable attire. She stepped out of her room and and into the bathroom, she gazed at her reflection. Her hair was still up, just as Alfred had fixed it, mind a few little crinkles here and there. Frowning, she reached up and began to pull out the hair-tie and bobby pins, almost feeling bad for having to ruin his work. Finally, her hair came loose and fell over her back and shoulders, as usual.

After a while, she just stared at herself; dark violet eyes, platinum blond hair. She was pretty, she knew that, she was reminded of it by many equally good-looking men (and women, too, though less often). Sometimes she wondered why she grew out her hair, why she bothered with putting it up, in ribbons, bands, or otherwise. She wondered a lot about herself, why she did things when she'd honestly prefer not to. Admittedly, she knew why, but wished to remain, at least, somewhat ignorant to it. No one wants to believe someone they care about is hurting them.

That person, obviously, was Ivan.

Since she was young, she had noticed how often her brother had prevented her from doing things, from changing things. She never questioned it, assuming he was just being protective, and not wanting to hurt him, either. Because, after all, he was her brother, she loved him, and vice-versa (right?). So she allowed it, she trusted his judgment, believed in him, believed him to be right.

When she was younger, a child, she didn't mind his restrictions, understanding why they were there. But now she found herself wondering, more than ever, if he really was right, questioning the control he seemed to have over her decisions.

But really, did she ever really make a decision for herself? Were there any choices he didn't make? Had she ever had any opinions that weren't originally his?

In reality, she'd never been given any options. What she had been given was a leash; he let her feel like she was in control, like she guided her life. Meanwhile, in the background where she couldn't see, he directed, decided, and _chose_ everything.

But still she wouldn't admit it, still she wouldn't believe it. Because she feared him, because she loved him, because she didn't want to think he was as bad as they said. After all, who else did she have?

(That question, really, was his goal all along. Because she didn't have anyone else, he wouldn't _let_ her have anyone else. She knew, she ignored.)

With a shaking hand, she picked up her hairbrush and began to run it gingerly through her hair. Trying with all her might to simply _forget_ what she'd been thinking, what she knew (or didn't know, as the case may be).

Finally she left the small room, walking back out and into the living room to see a sleeping Alfred on her couch. She smiled, picking up the neatly-folded wool blanket from the stack of bedding nearby, and draping it over him.

For a moment she just watched him, noting that the room had finally warmed up. Still smiling, somehow she felt better. She felt, in a way, happy. Something she hadn't truly felt in quite a while.

And she realized, maybe, she wasn't so alone. That she, maybe, did have someone else.

At least, for a little while.

* * *

_A/N: aaaaggghhhh I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'm a tard, a fag, a DUCK. I really did mean to finish this, really, I just got... sidetracked. By school, by life, but mostly by procrastination._

_I'm also terribly sorry this is so short, I meant for it to be longer, but I thought that this was a good ending for the chapter. You know? It also gives me a starting point for the next chapter. So yeah. I promise I'll try to update faster, though I doubt it'll be as quick as it was in the beginning, it won't be... how long has it been, six months? Then I promise it won't be six months._

_Hopefully.  
_


End file.
